Shashi Kapoor bags Dadasaheb Phalke Award; third one for the filmy family

The Indian government conferred the 46th Dadasaheb Phalke Award to veteran film actor and producer Shri Shashi Kapoor, for his outstanding contribution to the growth and development of the Indian Cinema. The award consists of a Swarn Kamal (Golden Lotus), a cash prize of Rs. 10 lakh and a shawl.

A jury of five eminent film personalities set up by the government after due deliberations, unanimously recommended Shashi Kapoor’s name for the prestigious award.

Born in 1938, Shashi Kapoor is a well-known actor and producer from the famous Kapoor family, a film dynasty in Bollywood cinema. Shashi Kapoor is the third person to receive the prestigious award from the same family after Raj Kapoor and Prithvi Raj Kapoor.

Shashi Kapoor is the younger brother of Raj Kapoor and Shammi Kapoor. From the age of four, Shashi Kapoor acted in plays directed and produced by his father Prithviraj Kapoor, while travelling with Prithvi Theatre. He started acting in films as a child in the late 1940s. His best known performances as child artist were in Aag (1948) and Awaara (1951), where he played the younger version of the character played by his elder brother Raj Kapoor. Shri Shashi Kapoor also worked as Assistant Director in the 1950s.

Shashi Kapoor made his debut as a leading man in the 1961 film Dharmputra and went on to appear in more than 100 Hindi films. He was a very popular actor in Bollywood during the 60s, 70s and until the mid 80s.

Shashi Kapoor was one of India’s first actors to go international. He is known internationally for starring in many British and American films, notably Merchant Ivory Proudctions run by Ismail Merchant and James Ivory, such as The Householder (1963), Shakespeare Wallah (1965), Bombay Talkie (1970) and Heat and Dust (1982). He also starred in other British and American films such as Siddhartha (1972) and Muhafiz (1994).

In 1978, Shri Shashi Kapoor set up his production house Film Valas which produced critically acclaimed films such as Junoon (1978), Kalyug (1981), 36 Chowringhee Lane (1981), Vijeta (1982) and Utsav (1984). He also produced and directed a fantasy film titled Ajooba which had Amitabh Bachchan and Rishi Kapoor in the lead role.

In 2011, Shashi Kapoor was honoured with Padma Bhushan Award by the Government of India. He is also a recipient of three National Film Awards.

Hon’ble Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Arun Jaitley has conveyed his congratulations on the occasion.

The veteran actor was also lost in nostalgia as he recounted the old times. Pixabay

Megastar Amitabh Bachchan, who is in Bulgaria to shoot “Brahmastra”, spared a thought about the care and concern he gets wherever he goes. But he finds it disturbing that he feels he gives back less than he gets.

In a blog post from Bulgaria, where he is enjoying the sun, Amitabh wrote: “Filmmaking from my times has undergone substantial change… Hundreds of unit and crew work assiduously on projects these days, every little detail of the making and production is looked at with such a degree of importance and a liberty it astonishes me.

“I feel guilty at times at what is on offer from the unit at times… Their care and concern, their efforts to make everything so comfortable and pleasant, all with such alacrity and love. I do know, and am intelligent enough to know my present standing and what I deserve. But when it exceeds that, I feel a discomfort.

“I feel I give back less than what I receive, and this disturbs me.”

There were times in the past when prominence was shown in much the same manner. Wikimedia commons

The veteran actor was also lost in nostalgia as he recounted the old times.

“There were times in the past when prominence was shown in much the same manner. Well not to the extent it is nowadays, and I felt maybe it was justifiable. But now with diminished presence, I feel it not right. I try hard to skip past it but it catches up .. as does most things in life,” he added.